CNN
–
Katie Ledecky lowered the mark he set almost a decade ago at the 2016 Rio Olympics, creating a sparkling swim on Saturday to break yet another world record with the women’s 800m freestyle.
She recorded an 8:04.12 hour on the Tyr Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale, shaving sixth of a second from her previous record, finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. She currently holds the top ten recorded so far at the event.
For almost 13 years, Ledecky dominated long-distance freestyle swimming, recording that no one else could touch and often unable to compete with himself.
But seven years have passed since America’s last world record. Her powers faded, people were presumed, and she was still able to collect titles, but never set the incredibly fast time that defined her previous career.
Still, her recent results suggest that Ledecky is once again close to those heights. On Wednesday, she set the second fastest time in the women’s 1500m freestyle, completing the distance at 15:24.51 before Saturday’s world record.
“I can’t stop smiling, but it’s been the case for the whole week, so it’s not really new,” she said in response to a US swimming after the race. “It’s been years since I did that tonight. It was an incredible night.”
“The crowd was amazing tonight. We couldn’t do it without it. I flipped over at 750. And it was roaring here.
Ledecky touched the wall, looked up at the screen to see her time, and the crowd erupted, knowing she had broken the record. Just a second later, Ledecky celebrated like that, shattering the water with his hands and raising his fist in victory.
And on the same day, her fellow countryman Gretchen Walsh became the first woman to complete a 100m butterfly within 55 seconds, recording a time of 54.60, lowering the world record set earlier that day.
After his record, Ledecky said, “Tonight is the first (record) when another American did it. I hated Gretchen this morning to roll us up and start a world record party.”
